LDP Official Cautious on Trump Call for Warship Dispatch

Tokyo, March 15 (Jiji Press)–A Japanese ruling party official on Sunday expressed caution over U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for Japan and others to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz. “We need to carefully consider the matter as the conflict is ongoing (in the Middle East)” following the attacks on Iran by U.S. and Israeli forces, Takayuki Kobayashi, policy chief of the Liberal Democratic Party, said in a debate program of Japan Broadcasting Corp., or NHK. “Hurdles are very high” for possible operations to safeguard ships by Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, he also said. In a social media post Saturday, Trump called on Japan, Britain, China, France, South Korea and other nations that are affected by the effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz to send warships to keep the key oil transport waterway “open and safe.” Kobayashi said that Trump’s remarks “change from time to time,” adding that Japan needs to confirm his true intention at an upcoming bilateral summit. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to meet with Trump in Washington on Thursday. Mitsunari Okamoto, policy chief of the opposition Centrist Reform Alliance, sounded cautious, saying that Trump is highly likely to make requests that Japan cannot accept. Takaichi should never accept unreasonable demands from the U.S. leader at their summit, Okamoto added. Makoto Hamaguchi, policy head of the Democratic Party for the People, stressed the need for making a decision through parliamentary deliberations and by confirming public opinion. On the Middle East tensions, Alex Saito, policy leader of the Japan Innovation Party, the coalition partner of the LDP, called for discussions on measures to address surging crude oil prices, such as the compilation of a supplementary budget. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]